John McDonough Memorial Award
The John McDonough Memorial Award, established in 1979, goes to an OCFOA official that has contributed to The Orange County Football Officials Association above and beyond the normal officiating duties required for membership. This award is given to the official whose actions and conduct are exemplary on the field of play.
John McDonough served as the OCFOA assignor and as an NFL Referee for years. He graduated from Stanford University and spent 10 years from 1960 to 1969 as a Referee in the American Football League for its entire existence.
John McDonough also officiated the NFL vs AFL World Championships in 1970 (Superbowl IV, Kansas City Chiefs vs. Minnesota Vikings) as the Referee after the two leagues merged.
John McDonough
Darren Gibson
2025 Recipient
Chris Salio
2025 Recipient
Past Winners
1979 – Ezra Van Horn
1980 – Bill Jordan
1981 – Pat Backus
1982 – John Dickey
1983 – Jack Pickering
1984 – Earl Engman
1985 – Buz McKnight
1986 – Frank McCormick
1987 – Stan Woods
1988 – Lee Phelps
1989 – Speed Castillo / Al Hackney
1990 – Larry Arason
1991 – Jack Brisacher
1992 – N/A
1993 – Barney Poleskey
1994 – Robert Noel
1995 – Jim Legerski
1996 – Steve Barclay
1997 – Bill Hudson
1998 – Fran Ursini
1999 – Glenn Thom
2000 – Brian Brennan
2001 – Lloyd Bressler
2002 – Stan Guzy
2003 – Greg Willard
2004 – Matt Noel
2005 – Joe Kozak / Curtis Cribbs
2006 – Dave Garber
2007 – Paul Caldera
2008 – Stan Guzy (2)
2009 – Nick Buford
2010 – Darryl Dyson
2011 – Chris Coyte
2012 – Delaine Richards / Jim Thompson
2013 – Doug Turner
2014 – Chad Wilson
2015 – Rik Bennett
2016 – Sal Figueroa
2017 – Forrest Werner
2018 – Frank Werner
2019 – Jim Ryan
2020 – Bob Hernandez
2021 – Jim Stickney
2022 – Richard Wilson
2024 – Troy Leonard
2025 – Darren Gibson / Chris Salio
Qualifications for Nomination
Member must be in good standing with the Association.
A member may only receive the award once.
The Executive Board will act upon nominations and the individual selected for that year will be announced not later than the last meeting of each year.
Nominations submissions to Secretary/Treasurer.
Deadline for nominations – Last meeting of September each year.